D.C. Wire: April 20, 2008 - April 26, 2008

Here is Staff Writer Nikita Stewart's final report from Friday's hearing, which lasted until after 8 p.m. 4:20 p.m. Carolyn Dallas, executive director of Youth Court, left the council chambers in tears after council members appeared as if they will not honor her $450,000 request for the program that keeps...

Chicago---Basking in the glow of a national spotlight, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee rattled off to a crowd of about 200 education reporters her accomplishments during her first year on the job: firing 100 central office staffers, finalizing plans to close 23 schools and preparing initiatives to overhaul 27 schools...

D.C. Superior Court Judge Brook Hedge today denied a request by D.C. taxicab drivers for an injunction to block implementation of a meter system. An attorney for the cab drivers said he would take the case to the D.C. Court....

More than 200 of the District's 234 public and charter schools are over 90 percent African American or Hispanic, while seven are majority white, according to a new study of racial patterns in school enrollment....

President George W. Bush said yesterday that he will work to expand a federally funded school voucher program for D.C. students. He made the remarks at a one-day White House summit on inner-city children and faith-based schools. Since 1994, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program has provided 2,600 low-income District children...

D.C. Wire reported yesterday that a number of schools were in line to win mega bucks from the nonprofit Fight for Children at its School Night event. Last night's three big winners took home $100,000 each: DCPS's Strong John Thomson Elementary School, E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, and San Miguel...

The Guide, the annual handbook for living in the District has important information about city government, schools, transportation, services and recreation. Plus, tips on the District's real estate outlook, the 10 best places to entertain children, the capital's standout attractions, higher education, historic sites and more. And, new this year,...

About 30 ministers responded to Council member Harry Thomas Jr.'s call to action this morning, as the body count continues to rise in Ward 5 (six slayings in eight days). The ministers gathered at the John A. Wilson Building to talk about ways to deal with the spike in violence...

Breaking News: Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced this morning that he is seeking developers to build a hotel or office complex behind the historic Lincoln Theater on U Street. The money the city makes from the development would be used to support the theater, he said....

Efforts to improve security at Woodrow Wilson High School have resulted mainly in long lines to enter the building in the morning, students tell the D.C. Wire. After 13 students were arrested in two fights last month, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee confined all students to their classrooms for...

District teachers say several recent events have made them feel uneasy about the future. As D.C. Wire has reported, the Washington Teachers' Union president and general vice president are embroiled in a philosophical battle about the direction of the organization and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is offering a buyout to...

Everybody knew parking was supposed to be a mess around the new ballpark in Southeast, but it turns out there's more than was bargained for. The Nationals went about searching out nearly 5,000 spaces in the neighborhood, selling them to season ticket holders for as much as $35 a game...

Mayor Adrain M. Fenty said the city will hold firm to its May 1 deadline on taxi meters, but is giving a one-month period when drivers will get warnings. After May 31st, however, it's $1,000 fines each time they are found without a meter and a risk of suspension....

The Democratic Party's superdelegates probably are watching the polls in Pennsylvania more closely than even Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. The District's Democratic Party lists five remaining unpledged superdelegates, but D.C. Wire learned yesterday that the count is off by at least one. D.C. Superdelegate Mona G. Mohib,...

This isn't really a story about Washington's Nats, but it does involve the continuing saga about the new stringent parking restrictions imposed by the District Department of Transportation around Nationals Park in Southeast D.C. Granted, the new rules are designed to make sure that fans don't completely take over all...

District students in grades 3 through 8 and 10 this week will be taking the high-stakes D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System, or D.C. CAS. Results of the test, required by the federal No Child Left Behind law, will determine whether the 140 schools across the city are deemed to have made...

From D.C. Acting Attorney General Peter Nickles: "It's a solid victory for the city. The mayor will hold a press conference tomorrow to explain the implementation of the decision, with the effective date of May 1. We're considering steps to ensure implementation. I expect that the cab association will procede...

The Associated Press is reporting the following: A judge has ruled in the city's favor in a dispute over Mayor Adrian Fenty's order for D.C. taxis to switch to time-and-distance meters for calculating fares. Fenty announced last October the city would change from the zone system to meters. But a...

A Monday morning feature in which D.C. Wire charts Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's quest for athletic glory. The Kinetic Half Ironman, held at Lake Anna State Park in Virginia, is billed as the first half-Ironman distance race of the season in the mid-Atlantic region, meaning a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile...

Harry Thomas Jr. told the D.C. Wire yesterday that he decided to throw his "superdelegate" support behind Barack Obama last week to honor the "will of his constituents." Thomas, the council member for Ward 5, had gotten the pot boiling in the District when, after winning a superdelegate seat to...

Ward 1 Council Member Jim Graham called The Post's City Desk yesterday to talk about a story that was stripped across the District's metro section Sunday morning. Posties Allison Klein and Dan Keating reported that burglaries are up 21 percent in the city, and police believe that some of it...

Charlotte Brookins-Hudson is joined by members of the D.C. Affairs Section of the D.C. Bar who nominated her every year since 2003 for this award. (L-R) Sally Kram, Claudia McKoin, Jim Bubar, Matthew Watson, Brian Flowers and Ester Bushman (Photo by Mazi A. Ndubisi Ucheomumu) Charlotte Brookins-Hudson retired in...